


You’re Already Perfect

by BrookeWritesSometimes



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I AM SO SORRY FOR REPOSTING THIS 3 TIMES I WAS JUST REALLY INSECURE, I’m sorry, M/M, Overworked Souji, Tw for injuries, at all, not my best work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:48:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29343066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrookeWritesSometimes/pseuds/BrookeWritesSometimes
Summary: Souji has been wearing long sleeved clothes a lot lately, even despite the scorching hot weather outside.Yosuke notices.It turns out that there was a reason behind it.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 56





	You’re Already Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR REPOSTING THIS A BILLION TIMES
> 
> I swear that it’s not for attention, I was just genuinely really insecure. This is one of my first times writing angst and I panicked a lot about it and yeah. Feel free to insult me for it though, idrc
> 
> But yeah I’m never posting angst again 💀💀

“Why do you always wear such warm clothes, Partner?” Yosuke asked, his tone joking but the question serious. “You’re gonna overheat, it’s July!” Yosuke had been meaning to ask him that for a while, but today was the final straw. The heat outside was record breaking, and yet Souji was still bundled up in a long sleeve jacket, as always. Yosuke guessed it didn’t all that much, seeing as they’d only be in the blazing heat outside for a few minutes before jumping into the lukewarm TV World, but he still found it odd.

“Oh, I, um..” Souji seemed.. nervous, almost, and Yosuke cocked his head in confusion. Souji and nervous weren’t words that he typically associated with each other, so he was a tad bit worried. “..It’s comfortable.” He finally finished. Yosuke didn’t completely believe him, but it didn’t really matter. It was just a jacket after all, and he was known for being peculiar.

“There are other comfortable clothes that won’t end with you dying, you know.” He laughed, Souji didn’t. He continued. “I’m not letting you go outside wearing that. You’re gonna pass out before we even get to Junes.” He leaned over slightly to unzip the jacket, immediately he felt Souji tense. Yosuke found that a bit odd, but shook off the feeling and continued. He was probably just imagining things.

“Yosuke- It’s- I’m fine, really.” Souji was breathing slightly heavier than normal, which he wouldn’t have noticed if they weren’t as close as they were. The way he could feel his partner nearly panting was all the more worrying, and it made him speed up the process. Was his Partner self conscious about his body or something? That was.. oddly cute in its own sort of way. Yosuke smiled to himself at the thought, and, after a few more seconds, he managed to get it unzipped. He started to pull the covering over Souji’s shoulders, and he only seemed to get more uneasy. Why was he reacting like this? It wasn’t even about the heat anymore, Yosuke was starting to get anxious that he was hiding something from him. He’d _never_ seen him as tense as he was, and Yosuke had been his best friend for how many months now? It was worrying to say the least, and he was concerned enough to ignore the faint pleas of the boy next to him.

“Yosuke, please-” he begged, quiet yet definitely not unheard.

“Dude, it’s just a jacket! Why are you so nervous, it’s starting to worry me.” Yosuke felt Souji shift, but he didn’t stop. There was clearly something going on with just how defensive he was getting over a mere jacket, and to say that he was worried would have been an understatement. He quickly pulled the sleeves off before his conscience could convince him that this was a bad idea, and..

Oh.

_Oh._

“Partner, I..” Yosuke couldn’t find the strength to say anything else.

There were so many different injuries contaminating Souji’s arms that Yosuke’s stomach turned to knots within an instant. Some were shallow cuts that looked to be by a blade of some sort, which Yosuke silently prayed that they were inflicted by a Shadow and not Souji himself, but the rest of the wounds didn’t seem to be so minor. There were burn scars, bright purple bruises, and faded red markings that Yosuke didn't even know how to categorize.

Why did he..? Where did all of these come from? Why was he so secretive about it? Yosuke jumped away from Souji unintentionally as these questions grew worse in his mind.

“Let’s go, we’re late,” Souji swallowed, clearly afraid yet fearful of showing it, and scrambled to put the coat back around his arms. Yosuke let him, partially out of guilt for causing all of this in the first place, but mostly because his body was completely frozen in place out of shock.

“W-What do you mean ‘ _let’s go_?’ I’m not letting you go anywhere like that, let alone the TV World! What the hell happened?” Yosuke tried to remain calm, though he wasn’t sure how effective that sentiment was. Souji still looked just as scared as before, so at the very least he hadn’t made it worse, he supposed.

“I told you, I’m fine.” Souji looked away, and Yosuke could clearly see the fear in his eyes. There was a new feeling in his stomach after that, one of guilt and regret. _He_ had caused this. _He’d_ been the one to make Souji this afraid. He swallowed, trying to stay strong, and started to speak once again.

“No, you’re not! How did all of those even get there? You’re not.. you’re not... doing anything to yourself, are you?” That thought had been on the back of Yosuke’s mind ever since Souji’s arms had been initially revealed to him, but it was so horrifying that he tried to repress it as much as possible. He wouldn’t do that, right? Souji was smart— wait, that didn’t do it enough justice. Souji was one of the most quick-witted and intelligent people he’d ever met. Surely he knew that harming himself was the worst way to deal with whatever he was going through, right? Yosuke hoped so.

“No, I’m not. I promise.” The exasperated sigh of relief that Yosuke made after hearing that was so loud that he’s pretty sure that the neighbors could have heard it. Souji could have just been lying to him, he realized, but he trusted his gut instinct that he was telling the truth. “Can we please just leave? We already made plans with everyone.” Souji was still looking away from him, but his gaze had shifted so that he was fixated at the ground now. He still looked nervous, which was a look that Yosuke rarely ever saw on him. Even when everyone else was overwhelmed with anxiety, Souji had always been the mediator. The calm, collected one. And now he was staring at the ground, anxious, and Yosuke worried just how much this was affecting him.

“Absolutely not! I’m not letting you take one step out of this room until you tell me what the hell is going on!” That had come off a bit more forceful than Yosuke had intended it to, which was evident in the way that Souji shivered a bit at his words. He made a mental note to apologize for that later, because right now the only thing that mattered was getting an explanation out of him.

“Nothing’s ‘going on.’ These are all just injuries from Shadows.” He sounded so earnest and genuine that Yosuke almost believed him, but his statement didn’t make any sense. The Shadows targeted Souji the same amount as the rest of the group, so why was he so injured? Yosuke’s own wounds were unnoticeable at worst and inconveniencing at best, so his Partner’s being so visible and plentiful wasn’t very logical.

“C’mon dude, I’m not that dumb! We’ve been in there the same amount of times, and my arms don’t look like I survived a bomb!” Souji went silent for what couldn’t have been more than a minute, but every second that passed felt like an hour. Had he gone too far? Maybe this was something personal that he didn’t want to talk about? Yosuke once again almost apologized and backed down, his fear of upsetting his partner getting the better of him, but he stood his ground. He needed to know what was going on so he could help him. Souji stayed silent for another minute or so, and Yosuke couldn’t stand to watch him this nervous anymore. 

“C’mon, please? I just wanna help you. I- I love you.” Yosuke offered a comforting smile, not that there was much point seeing as how Souji was still staring at the floor. The other’s head shifted slightly, and whether that was a good or bad thing Yosuke was unsure of. After a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence, Souji abruptly looked up at him. It felt like his eyes were piercing directly into his heart, and definitely not in any sort of romantic way. It genuinely hurt to look at, and it took almost all of Yosuke’s willpower to maintain eye contact.

Souji stared at him for a few more seconds, neither uttering a word, until finally, _finally,_ he spoke.

“I’ve been going in alone,” immediately after saying that, Souji’s eyes retreated back to the ground in front of him. 

That.. didn’t mean what he thought it meant, right? It couldn’t. Souji wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t put himself in that much danger, injure himself that badly, all for seemingly no reason. Souji _wouldn’t_ do that.

...Right?

“..What?” He was almost too scared to ask.

“The TV World. I’ve been going in alone.” There were clear hints of embarrassment littered throughout his voice, and Yosuke immediately knew that he was telling nothing but the truth.

_Why?_

Why would he do that? That was one of the very few boundaries that they’d set as a group, not to go in alone. And Souji had done just that, multiple times by the looks of it. _Why?_ For a brief while the only reply he could muster was a defeated sigh. 

“Why _?_ Why would you-” He sounded accusatory, and a part of him had meant for it to sound that way. Souji had broken one of the very few rules that they’d set for the TV World, and put himself in extreme danger in the process, how could he not at least be a little mad?

“I didn’t want to fall behind. I’m fine, I promise.” He was worried about.. falling behind? Souji, perfect, golden boy Souji, had caused horrendous amounts of harm to himself because he was afraid of _falling behind_? As much as Yosuke hated to admit it, it made sense. Souji had always been the strongest member of the team, but recently the margin of which he seemed to be better had increased exponentially. Yosuke had simply chalked it up to him being the leader, of course, but knowing the real reason made his stomach ache.

“How the fuck are you _fine?_ Your arms are- wait, is the rest of your body like that too? Oh god, I- Souji-” It all made sense now. The long sleeved clothes, somehow always having other plans when he suggested going to the beach, the way he always fell asleep fully clothed when they hung out together..

This was his fault, wasn’t it? 

If he would have been just a bit more perceptive, a bit more caring, a bit more worried, then this would have been stopped ages ago. Hell, if he would have just reassured Souji in the first place that he was doing perfectly fine and didn’t need any extra training then this wouldn’t have happened to begin with. If this were the other way around then it definitely wouldn’t have gotten to the level it had. Souji would have been smarter, kinder, just _better overall_ , and stopped him in his tracks.

Yosuke didn’t even notice the tears falling from his eyes until he felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around his waist.

“I’m sorry,” Souji muttered underneath his breath, quiet and small.

“Why are _you_ sorry!? I should have noticed earlier- I could have-”

“It’s not your fault. Deep breaths, Yosuke.” He felt awful that Souji was the one having to comfort _him_ after everything that had happened, but he tried not to let that get the better of him. The faster he could calm down the faster he could help Souji, after all. He followed his Partner’s advice, taking deep breaths in and out, until finally the tears in his eyes had been reduced to tiny droplets. 

He took one more deep breath for good measure as he felt Souji’s arms tighten around his waist.

“Why, Souji? You could have _died!_ I-” he paused, not wanting his emotions to overwhelm him again. “Just.. why? You were already so strong, you didn’t need to do any of that.” He looked over at Souji, who was also looking at him.

“I didn’t want any of you to get hurt. I thought that if I made myself stronger than I could protect you.” Souji seemed to be less nervous now, which was undoubtedly a good thing. It was going to be infinitely easier to have a conversation without the awkwardness and silence, after all.

“And you got hurt instead of us! Look at your arms!! I can’t- why did you-” Yosuke didn’t know what else to say, but thankfully he was cut off by a loud ping from Souji’s phone, which was laying next to them on the bed. He unfortunately had to let go of Yosuke’s waist to grab it, and he immediately missed the sensation.

“It’s Chie. She’s wondering why we’re late.” Right, they were meeting at the food court. Yosuke had completely forgotten that they were originally planning on going there with everything that had happened.

“Just tell her that I messed something up. She’ll believe you.” In any other circumstances, that would have been the very last thing Yosuke would have suggested. Chie bashed on him enough as-is; she definitely didn’t need another reason to add to the list. However, he simply couldn’t let Souji blame himself. Technically, this _was_ his fault after all; if he wouldn’t have been so pushy about the jacket then none of this would have happened.

“She’ll be mad at you, though.” He sounded genuinely worried for him, and it made feelings bubble up in Yosuke’s chest that really should not have been there over something as insignificant as showing compassion.

“She’s mad at me all the time anyway, it’s not gonna change anything. C’mon, just send it.” Souji, pretty reluctantly by the looks of it, started typing out a message to Chie. Yosuke didn’t even want to think of the barrage of insults he’d receive for that later, but it didn’t matter. Souji was what was actually important right now. He set his phone down after pressing send, and turned to Yosuke.

“I’m assuming that you’re not going to let me go into the TV, are you?” Did he still want to go in after everything that had happened? He knew that Souji could be a workaholic, but that was a little concerning.

“Hell no! You’re not going anywhere right now, got it?” Surprisingly enough, Souji didn’t protest. Instead, he set down the phone in his hands and turned to Yosuke with an ever-so-slight smile.

Now that everything emotional was taken care of, Yosuke figured it was finally time to actually take care of the wounds surrounding Souji’s body. It seemed like a majority of them had healed up from the slight glance he’d seen, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Junes was only a short bike ride away, after all, and they had more than enough medical supplies to take care of the few injuries that still needed attention.

“So, uh.. Can you take that off?” He gestured towards the jacket that Souji had been wearing. “You don’t have to or anything, I just.. want to know what sort of supplies I need to get.”

“Supplies?” He seemed confused, but still took the covering off regardless. Yosuke almost winced as his eyes made contact with Souji’s arms once again, but managed to stay mature about it.

“Oh, I’m gonna go to Junes to buy some stuff to put on your arms. I gotta know what your injuries actually look like to make sure I get the right things.” Truthfully, Yosuke had absolutely no idea how to take care of serious wounds in an efficient way. He was hoping that he could just make a mental list of every type of damage there was, and just look up what to buy once got to Junes. It’s not like he was actually going to say that, though; it sounded a lot more caring to imply that he actually knew what to buy.

“Oh..” Souji seemed.. upset, but not necessarily at him. “That’s really not necessary, they doesn’t hurt. But I appreciate the offer.”

“They.. don’t hurt? Like at all?” He asked, quizzically but not accusatory. He and Souji seemed to have very different levels of pain tolerance, so it was possible that he wasn’t lying. However, Yosuke doubted that assumption. He often made jokes about Souji being perfect, but he couldn’t _literally_ be perfect. There was no way that they didn’t hurt at least a bit, not with just how many of them there were.

“Nope.” Souji didn’t elaborate, and Yosuke only got all the more suspicious. He didn’t want to accuse him of lying, but he didn’t exactly believe Souji. Not with how tense he looked right now, and certainly not with how he was staring at the ground once again. Rather than asking him outright, knowing that nothing would come of it, Yosuke instead raised his fingertips up to the wounds covering Souji’s arm and traced a few of them. Even if he was lying, Yosuke didn’t want to hurt him, so he made sure to be as gentle as possible. Within seconds Souji jumped back just enough to get Yosuke off of his arm, and let out a sound reminiscent of a repressed whimper.

He knew it.

“You’re lying. Why won’t you just let me help you? I love you, you know,” Yosuke spoke quietly and softly, as if Souji was a piece of glass that could shatter at any minute. That very well may have been true, given the state of his arms and undoubtedly the rest of his body as well.

“I’m sorry,” Souji replied meekly, avoiding the actual question. He really didn’t want to talk about this, huh? Yosuke almost gave in to his urge to just drop everything and wait for Souji to speak up himself, but he held on to the tiny bit of willpower he had left. If he let his Partner speak up when he was ready, there was no telling how much more he could do to himself in the time between. So, as much as he hated making Souji uncomfortable, Yosuke pressed further.

“You didn’t answer the question, Partner. _Why?_ Why won’t you let me help you? Why did you even do all of this in the first place? You were already so strong, y-you didn’t need to- why did you- Partner..” ‘ _Deep breaths, Yosuke,’_ Souji’s words replayed in his mind. Right, he wouldn’t want him to be panicking like this. It’ll only make Souji feel worse. He moved one of his palms over to Souji’s, and held it ever so gently. Thankfully his palms seemed to be free of wounds— beyond a few calluses and tiny scratch marks, that was. They seemed completely minuscule compared to the rest of the injuries, and Souji didn’t protest it, so Yosuke decided to keep it there. After what couldn’t have been more than a second he felt something squeeze down on his hand, hard, and he turned to see a face that he never thought he’d see on Souji. He looked tired, and was clearly holding back tears.

“I didn’t want to be a burden on you.” The way he said it so simply, like it was some sort of objective statement, made Yosuke’s stomach knot. Was this really how Souji felt about himself? He thought of himself as some sort of burden? How long has this been going on for? Although he struggled doing so, Yosuke managed to put his feelings of guilt and worry aside in favor of comforting Souji.

“Don’t say that! You’re not a burden, you’re nowhere near that. I love you, idiot! Would I be saying that if I thought you were nothing but a problem?” Yosuke only noticed after he had finished speaking that he’d been speaking loudly, and that Souji was even closer to tears than he was before. “Woah woah hey, I’m sorry for yelling. C’mere, Partner.” Yosuke gently wrapped his arms around Souji’s waist and pulled him closer. He placed a soft kiss to the tip of his forehead, and he smiled in return. An actual smile, not one being held up by the fear of being annoying. As much as he wanted to stay like this forever, arms wrapped around Souji’s waist and their bodies mere centimeters apart, Yosuke still had to examine the wounds more carefully. It was one of the furthest things he wanted to do, but the faster he did it the faster Souji could heal.

On a second look through, the injuries seemed to be smaller in variety than he’d originally thought. He was panicking the first time he looked, so that made sense. A majority of them seemed to be different shades and sizes of bruises, while a few burns and what appeared to be puncture wounds filled the spaces between them. He wasn’t the best at medical stuff, but he had a faint idea on what to buy to take care of the injuries. He pulled back after a bit, not wanting to make his Partner uncomfortable with his over-examining of the wounds. There was definitely more to do; there’s no way that the injuries were _only_ on his arms, after all, but Yosuke decided to worry about that later.

“Alright, I think I know what to get now. Thanks, Partner.” He smiled warmly, and Souji smiled back at him. To Yosuke’s surprise, he didn't reach over to cover his arms with the jacket once again. Yosuke was overjoyed about that, and he silently hoped that it would stay that way.

“I should be the one thanking you,” Souji said lovingly, his hand making its way towards Yosuke’s.

“Oh hush.” Yosuke wrapped his arms around Souji’s waist, as if his body was drawing him to it, just for a split second before he went to go get the medical supplies.

..Only for a split second.

...He’d leave right after.

….Just a little longer.

At some point, his hands moved from Souji’s waist up to his neck, his eyes following along with them. He must have been staring like an absolute idiot right now, he realized as he stared into the deep gray eyes in front of him, but almost immediately afterward he realized that he didn’t care.

“I love you,” Souji murmured, somehow perfectly mirroring his own thoughts.

“I love you too,” Yosuke said in a voice no higher than a whisper, tucking a strand of hair behind Souji’s ear. “So please don’t do this to yourself again. You don’t deserve it.” He looked like he was going to protest, but his expression changed last-minute to a slight smile.

“Okay, I won’t. I promise.” Yosuke, overjoyed, pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Souji’s forehead.

“Good.” He’d meant to pull away after saying that and actually bike over to Junes like he had promised, but his hands seemed frozen around Souji’s neck. There was something about the grey eyes piercing directly into his heart (in a positive way, unlike last time) mixed with the bright pink coloring dusted across Souji’s face that made him feel so _intoxicated,_ as if nothing else in the world even mattered.

“Um.. Weren’t you going to Junes?” Souji seemed flustered, and every ounce of that went straight to Yosuke’s heart.

“Yeah, sure. Just.. Just a little while longer, alright?” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!


End file.
